Saturday, June 2, 2007

Krista Voda Rocks "The Set-Up"

With all the buzz surrounding the addition of Suzy Kolber to ESPN's NASCAR broadcast team, the gang at SPEED must be quietly chuckling to themselves. This network boasts several of the top female TV personalities in NASCAR who continue to re-define the role of women in television. One of them is Krista Voda.

As the cameras revealed the pre-race stage for The Set-Up, SPEED's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series show, there was only one person to be seen. She is familiar to NASCAR viewers for her hard work in the sport, her pleasant manner, and her ability to handle a wide variety of TV roles. Krista Voda has quietly established herself as a top television professional through her consistent performance on-the-air.

With Voda, there is no need to provide additional "manpower" on the set, she can handle herself quite nicely. Her longtime pit reporter pal Ray Dunlap works so well with Voda their comfort level is apparent to viewers. When Voda does ask someone to appear alongside her, the guest always comes away with a smile. In this show, Carl Edwards stopped by, and his comfort level with Voda was apparent. Its clear she "speaks the language."

The production staff for this show has been top-notch, and the Ron Hornaday feature this week proved they are still on their game. There are some great "characters" in the Truck Series, just like there used to be in the Busch Series in the old days. This is where the "fun" lives in NASCAR, while the Busch Series continues to be simply NEXTEL Cup practice with a checkered flag.

With Dover being the 300th race in the Truck Series, the show did a great job of putting into perspective what changes had occurred in that time, and where the sport had come from originally. Chris Showalter's interview with Ray Dunlap really drove home the point that this series had done exactly what NASCAR wanted it to do, provide additional opportunity for drivers, crew chiefs, and crew members to work in the sport and establish a meaningful career.

This program flew by at a breakneck pace because the on-air talent and the production staff continues to provide as much information about the series as they possibly can in thirty minutes. It is the epitome of what viewers want in a pre-race show, lots of info and no "antics." With Voda at the helm, SPEED can continue to smile for the rest of the season because The Set-up is right on target.

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4 comments:

Anonymous
said...

I agree that the set up show was really good and does such a good job of setting the pace for a truck show. Krista Voda is easy on the eyes and is just a welcoming presence in my living room. thank god SPEED knows how to broadcast this truck series. how much longer will it take before the truck series passes the busch series???? or has it already happened? I thought the race coverage was good as well and thank god they stayed with that great battle for 2nd and 3rd.

NCTS set up rocks!!! great features and stories, plus they rarely miss talking to a key driver in the race.

I also thought it was funny at the end of the show when they showed the grapic of what all the announcers were doing on the day of the first ever truck race when mike skinner beat terry labonte to the line. thank god someone is having fun in the NASCAR TV world.

Krista Voda is, and has been, a top-notch reporter for a few years now,and, ya know, not bad to look at either. Her tone of voice is such that it carries over the background engine noises, making her understandable and easy to hear.

I love the way SPEED broadcasts the Truck races. How come SPEED can find good on air talent, and ESPN can't? Maybe Krista can host both shows. I especially like it when they highlight an unknown driver. If only the Busch series would comment on the "odd wad" drivers, maybe we could get to them too.